OAS ARCH NOTES 87-4:13-15
John Steckley
The purpose of this short paper is to add a linguistic component to the excellent work being done on Iroquoian beads in Ontario archaeology1. It is hoped that those doing research in this area will find this study useful in ‘making the beads talk’.
The Huron way of classifying beads seems to have been to have one generic word for beads , with other terms based on resemblance of the beads to familiar objects, e.g., body parts.
1.0 Ensta – /bead/
The noun that I believe provided the general term for beads was ensta2. The following are typical dictionary entries, presented in chronological order:
1.1 ((Canons de pourceleine.3 Einsta.)) (Sagard 1866, dictionary p.90)
1.2 ((canon. ..de pierre…ens?a.)) (FHL30)
1.3 ((ensta … canon de porcelaine ou de verre.)) (Potier 1920:454)
Two points can be made from these entries. First, the French term ‘canon’ suggests a tubular shape for ensta beads, and possibly a historical priority for that shape. Second, the different materials cited in each entry point to the general reference applicability of the term.
2.0 ,Ack8enda – /glass bead/
The best known reference to a bead being named through a resemblance to a familiar object is the following, taken from a discussion of Huron dream guessing:
((((What I ask for is seen in my eyes,–it will be marked with various colours:)) and because the same Huron word that signifies ((eye)) also signifies ((glass bead)), this is a clue to divine what he desires,
-namely, some kind of beads of this material, and of different colours….)) (JR17:179)
The shared term was ((o,ak8enda)), one of the Huron nouns for ‘eye’. The following are typical dictionary entries, again in chronological order:
2.1.1 ((Rassade. Acoinna.)) (Sagard 1866, dictionary, p91)
2.1.2 ((Les yeux. Acoina, Acoinda.)) (op. cit., p86)
2.2 ((Rassade. o,ack8enda 2ae ondaie d’(a,a)tsichatsi / Huron word for ‘red’/
ondaie d’otsingoratsi / Huron word for ‘blue’/)) (FHO)
2.3.1 ((grain de rassade. o,ak8enda)) (FHL87)
2.3.2 ((oeiI…o,ak8enda)) (FHL133)
2.4 ((o,ak,8enda…œil…rassade.)) (Potier 1920:446)
3.0 ,Annontatsi – /it is named ‘leg’ (or ‘ fruit pit’)/
The term ((annontatsi)) appears in the following dictionary entries:
3.1 ((Canons de verre. Anontatse.)) (Sagard 1866, dictionary p90.)
3.2 ((Pour mettre, pour serrer des canons (se sont des longues patinotres a se parer).
Anontatsehoirhousta, Outerousta.)) (op cit. 129)
3.3 ((canon… de pierre…,annontatsi.)) (FHL30)
The verb in this noun plus verb combination is ((,aatsi)), meaning ‘to name, call ‘ (Potier 1920:208 #8). It was often used in identifying similarities for colour terms–e.g., ‘,atsihenstatsi’ – ‘it is called charcoal’, for the colour black (FHL239: see also 2.2 above). There is probably a similar function performed here, with the shape rather than colour being referred to.
While the form of the noun is clear, ‘,annonta’, there is difficulty stemming from the fact that there are two different nouns appearing as ,annonta that have meanings that make them candidates: a) leg; and b) fruit pit or stone. As 3.2 stresses that they were ((longues)), and as body part analogies were common in bead names, I suspect that ‘leg’ is the most likely meaning.
4.0 Ondosa – /ear of corn(?)/
In Sagard’s dictionary there are two terms for beads that appear in no other source. One is the following:
4.1 ((Canons grands & gros de pourceleine. Ondosa.)) (Sagard 1866, dictionary, p90)
While, as yet, it is difficult to be sure, the term wityh the greatest possibility of being ‘ondosa’ is ((,and8tsa)), meaning ‘ear of corn’ (Potier 1920:450). Although that term always appears elsewhere in Sagard’s dictionary as ‘andotsa’ (Sagard 1866, dictionary, pp.116, 117 and 119), there are sufficient examples of Sagard using -s- where the Jesuits used -ts-consideration to make this possibility warrant consideration. This requires more work.
5.0 Oskota – /head/
The other term found only in Sagard’s dictionary appears in the following entry:
5.1 ((Canons gros & quarrez que les filles mettent devant elles. scouta.)) ( op cit., p.90)
This is most probably derived from ((oskota)), meaning ‘head’ (Potier 1920: 453), which is also represented as ((scouta)) in Sagard’s dictionary (Sagard 1866, dictionary p.85).
Footnotes
1. A good beginning in the linguistic component was made by Ian Kenyon in ((Sagard’s ((Rassade Rouge)) of 1624)) in Studies in Southwestern Ontario Archaeology, London Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, Occasional Publications #1, 1986, pp.53-59.
2. The word ((,arensa)) could also have a similar general reference use, or possibly a traditional use with round beads, but its primary use seems to have been to refer to ((une file des grains)) /a string of beads/. The following are typical dictionary entries:
a) ((grain … de chapelet ,arensa item file des grains /bead of a rosary, also, a string of beads/
(FHL87)
b) ((grain. ,arensa item une file de grains.)) (FHCH168)
This general preference for its ‘string’ use can be seen in the following entry:
c) ((donne moi des grains p/ou/r me faite un chapelet.
tannont o,ack8enda d’a,atrensonnia /give me a glass bead so that I can make a ‘,arensa’ or string
of beads/ ))
3. The Huron word for ((pourceleine)), or worked shell generally was ((onnonk8ar8ta))
(Potier 1920:451)
References Cited
FHCH French-Huron dictionary, ms, c1693
FHL French-Huron dictionary, ms, c1697
FHO French-Huron-Onondaga dictionary, ms, c1655
Potier, Pierre
1920 The Fifteenth Report of the Bureau of Archives for the Province of Ontario for the Years 1916-1919, CIarkson W. James, Toronto.
Sagard, Gabriel
1866 Histoire du Canada, Edwin Tross, Paris.
Thwaites, Reuben Gold
1896-1901 The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, 73 vols., The Burrows Bros., Cleveland.